


Introductions

by Jevil_Joss



Category: RWBY
Genre: Multiple Parallel Universes, god-like beings, introductions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 10:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20740889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jevil_Joss/pseuds/Jevil_Joss
Summary: An introduction to some characters.





	Introductions

Alright then. You've met me, Sylvia, and Rosetta. However, there are a lot of other characters who will show up in this series, multiple times. There are some who will only show up once, but a few will show up repeatedly. Allow me to introduce you.

**Home Is Where the Heart Is**

What was family worth?

This was a question that she'd asked herself hundreds of times. She stood at the edge of a building, red hood flapping in the wind. She carried a massive, crystal scythe over her shoulder. The original steel one had been called Crescent Rose, she remembered. Ruby Rose looked up as a massive mechanical raven flew over and landed on the docks. She jumped off the edge of the building, landing expertly on the back of her Nevermore. The ancient Grimm screeched, flying through the air over the Ravenwing jet. 

In the end, was it worth her soul bringing her family back? But what was the alternative? Leaving them imprisoned? But didn't they also deserve it?

She thought about these, her Nevermore circling the Ravenwing agents unloading something. Presumably supplies for their base in this world. They hadn't learned that everyone in it was dead and gone. 

She jumped off the back of her ride, landing on the ground in the center of the Ravenwing agents. She put her white-and-black mask on. She looked at the agents--most of whom had fast enough reactions to already have weapons out. 

"Why isn't anyone working?" an annoyed voice called out. "Aren't you supposed to be unloading the--" A thick, leather boot clanked against the metal ramp leading up into the metal raven. A fashionable black and gold cane clinked as well. A familiar face from another world, Roman Torchwick removed the cigarette from his mouth. He wore a black-and-gold coat. Beside him, wearing a shirt and jeans of the same coloring, Neo Politan walked, holding an Umbrella like a sword. "Well," Torchwick said, throwing the cigarette away. "You look like someone I've heard a lot about." He finished walking down the ramp. "Would you, by chance, happen to be, the Night Haunt?"

Ruby glared at him. She hated Torchwick. Every version of him she'd found always sucked up to whoever paid the most. Slimy, manipulating, scum of the Earth. 

Her scythe spun around, slamming into the ground with force. 

"Right," Torchwick said. He looked at the Ravenwing soldiers, then pointed at Ruby. "_Get her_."

And then, everyone was rushing Ruby at once. She spun around the first one to reach her, landing no hits but a cut on the soldier's shoulder. The cut glowed red, the person's skin crystallized, and they were converted to a red mist that went into Ruby's wrist watch, which beeped comfortingly. Ruby leapt toward the next one to reach her, slashing them across the shoulder. This one was converted to magic as well. She checked the watch. 

_So close..._ She spun around, turning the scythe to a sniper rifle. She fired upon the Ravenwing soldiers, each one crystallizing as they were hit. A few dodged the first hit, but most were still panicking. 

Dozens dead in a minute, as she turned the rifle back to a scythe and slashed the three people that had tried getting her from behind. All three were crystallized. 

She jumped backwards as an explosive ball of energy hit the dock where she'd been standing. Roman sighed, lowering his cane. "I was kind of hoping that would hit, you know." He didn't seem the least bit turned by the fact that a dozen people had just died. He rubbed his head. "Shouldn't have thrown away my cigarette."

He happened to be the one person that the Night Haunt would never lose sleep over killing. She fired off several shots at him. He blocked with his cane, firing off another blast. The Night Haunt jumped aside as the jet lifted up into the air. 

"Just once, I'd like to see someone who can't kill someone with a single cut," Torchwick commented, pulling the ramp closed. The Night Haunt stood where she was as the jet blasted off. Her Nevermore landed behind her. It screeched at her. She removed the mask from her face, shedding tears for the people she'd killed. 

But then again, the Multiverse had never really cared about killing her. 

**Of Gods and Trench Coats**

Most people wore a red coat. Some wore gold, a few wore blue. And then some wore black coats, and some wore white coats. Few wore black and white realities. 

Star sighed, looking at the brown ruin around him with envy. Less so at he massive bones sticking from the rocks. His trench coat fluttered as he walked across the ground. He straightened his tricorn hat and his shirt. 

One had to look presentable when talking to a god, especially if that god happened to be picky about fashion. He strode past what appeared to be a gateway made out of bones--Mortus had a theme, didn't it? "Hello?" he called out. 

"Why are you bothering me?" Mortus' voice echoed. Star looked around. There weren't any walls anywhere. 

"Are you invisible?" Star asked. "Cause, I was kind of hoping to talk to your face, and not your voice."

A deep violet glow appeared in the air, and a massive, skeletal dragon stepped from it. Sixty feet from head to tail, a massive wingspan of nearly a hundred feet in length. Its head had two horns coming out from right above the eyes. It had several dozen foot-long teeth. Its' eye sockets weren't empty, however. Violet energy spiraled inside. The dragon landed in front of Star, its head inches from his face. 

"You push your luck," the dragon growled. Its mouth barely moved, yet the voice was loud and clear. 

Star looked it in the eyes. "There was...an issue this morning."

Mortus glared at him. "Let me make one thing absolutely clear. I promised that, as long as Ravenwing didn't mess with me or my group of ten dimensions, I wouldn't break any of their precious laws. As a Chaos Lord, I cannot break my promises. So then, _why do you bother me_?"

"We found another Chaos Lord."

Mortus stopped. "There hasn't been a new Chaos Lord for billions of years." Mortus looked up and began walking around. It shot a glance back to Star. "Not since the Chaos Wars."

"This one hasn't come into her power yet, and only a few people know about it yet," Star replied. "Me, and a few of the really high-ups in Ravenwing. Not even the Chaos Lord knows, I think."

Mortus looked away, prowling. Star itched to be moving--Mortus had killed a few agents who had tried messing with him. To one as old as him, human lives just didn't matter. "Does the Reaper know?"

"No. We...decided it would be unwise to tell her, all things considered."

"Hmm. Leave her alone...for now."

"Uh..." Star frowned. "You know, after all of your talk of, 'the Chaos Lords will rise again', I expected you to want to get involved."

"She does not yet know what she is, you say?" Mortus asked. He turned around and began pacing the opposite direction. "Then leave her to wait and find out. When it starts, it can be...jarring. Best to let her figure this out for herself, and then establish good relations later."

"Isn't this a situation of, the earlier, the better?"

"You know how Chaos Lords are--solitary by nature. Few like the presence of other beings, and even fewer like the presence of other Chaos Lords. I am an oddity to the rest of them--the only one who wanted what was best for our species, instead of what was best for myself." Mortus stopped in his tracks, looking at Star. "I'll wait, then, introduce myself to her slowly."

"One last thing." Star sighed, then looked at Mortus. "Where the hell did she come from?" 

"..."

"That's the one thing I don't know," Star said, beginning to pace. "The one thing you haven't ever told us. Chaos Lords, the most powerful beings in the multiverse, growing more powerful each day they live, and almost completely unkillable." Star looked at Mortus. "Where the hell did they come from?"

"...There are things I cannot even tell to you, Star."

Star looked at him. "Why? Why can't you tell us? Why must you obey every single promise you make? Why can't you lie? Why is any of this happening with you?"

Mortus glared at him. "I think it is time you left."

Star sighed, then pushed a button on his wrist watch, opening a portal back to Ravenwing HQ. He turned back to Mortus, taking one last look at him. Then, he left. 

**Fear the Reaper**

Most small-time criminals were handled by miscellaneous Ravenwing agents. Some took a few really tough agents, and a special few took the best agents they had to bring down. And the rest were handled by the Silver Reaper. 

She stood on the open ramp of a Ravenwing jet, looking at a small truck crossing a bridge, hundreds of feet below. She jumped from the jet. She wore her silver armor, covering her head to foot, silver cloak wrapped around her, staff in one hand, sword in the other. After a minute of falling, she landed on the center of the truck, crushing it, cratering it into the road. The rest of the cars that were following it pulled over. Armed thugs came out, pointing guns at her. The Reaper jumped off the crumpled truck, rushing towards the first of the cars. He fired off a gunshot, and she let the bullet reflect off her armor. Reach him, she slammed her staff into his chin, cracking his skull and throwing the corpse over the car and off the bridge. She looked into the car as the remaining three people came out. Four people a car, and seven total cars made twenty-eight armed men who also happened to be idiots. 

A quick series of slashes killed the remaining three in that car. Then she dodged backwards as a different sort of bullet zoomed past. The rest of the thugs had stopped firing at her as someone came out of the truck. He stood around eight foot, holding a a shotgun and a pistol, one in each hand. The Reaper turned to him, rushing forwards. He fired at her again, and she dodged, reaching her hand out and letting the bullet graze past her gauntlet. It scratched the metal. She jumped into melee with her target, slashing with her sword and shoving with her staff. The man stumbled out of the way, his two guns turning into a melee weapon--a large staff with a blade at each end. She jumped forward, blocking his attempted swing at her with the staff and trying to run him through with her sword. The man jumped back, spinning his staff towards her head. She blocked with her staff, pulling a hidden trigger, firing off a bullet at his head. He ducked beneath it. She spun her staff towards his head, firing off another bullet as he blocked. Again, he dodged, jumping backwards. 

He was just as tough as she'd been told. Marcus Blanch, interdimensional robber baron. Fast on his feet, strong as a truck, with some of the deadliest weapons in the local dimensions. She spun around, slashing and jabbing and firing all at the same time. Marcus retreated even farther as she struck again and again. Then, she shot the ground at his feet. He jumped up as the concrete exploded, then she rammed him with her staff and sword at the same time. He blocked with his bladed weapon, but flung backwards from her strength. He grated to a stop at the edge of the bridge, stumbling, off balance. She spun her staff around, resting it across her shoulders, aimed at him, and fired. He blocked the bullet, but was knocked off balance. He fell off the bridge. She rushed over and jumped off after him. He swung at her. She let his weapon impale her stomach. Then, while his blade was stuck, she chopped his head off. She put her boots on his corpse and kicked off, landing back onto the bridge, pulling the blade from her side. The wound healed instantly, the armor repairing itself as well. 

She turned her attention to the stunned thugs. Then, she charged, ready to kill them all. 

If people would not be kind for kindness' sake, they'd be kind because they feared the Reaper. 

**Deep in Crimson Waters We Lie**

The Crimson Hunter wore slate gray armor, except over her right hand. Her red cloak covered her right hand, and she carried a staff made from the bones of a long dead god, painted red and made to look like metal. In truth, the armor was heavy, the coat was itchy, and Ruby Rose wore gloves so she didn't get blisters from wielding the staff. 

She walked forward, looking at the crimson lake. She turned and looked at her pursuers. "Guess you really wanna fight, eh?"

The Laughing Shadows stopped. They looked like all the rest of their kind. Pitch black shadows. They only had one leg, and a tattered coat over their backs. Each had a witch's hat with flat tops instead of pointed ones. They had one glowing yellow eye without pupils or whites or irises. They had large grins on their faces, faint shadows of teeth in their lips. They had claws, but they wielded long, bladed swords. They were only shadows of people, so neither of the swords had any unique looks. They looked just like shadows of swords. 

Ruby sighed. She turned from the crimson lake as the Shadows grinned at her. Then, the first one teleported next to her, swinging its sword at her face. Her staff blocked the blade, then blocked the blade from its partner that teleported behind her. She swung and struck the first, parried the second one's attack, and followed it up by bashing the second in the head with her staff. Both teleported away the moment they were struck. They stood back, grinning at her. Ruby sighed again, looking over the lake, then toward her limited ground-movement. She jumped backwards, landing on the surface of the water, staff ready for a fight. One of the Shadows teleported to her, attacking. She blocked and spat on it. The spit triggered a teleport, and she blocked the upcoming attack from the next one, striking it, blood-red water sailing into the air. She stood on the surface of the lake now, both shadows slowly floating across the surface in a circle around her. Both teleported next to her at the same time, swing swords. 

Ruby jumped back, stepping quickly across the surface of the water, blocking first one attack, then the other as the Shadows skimmed across the surface of the water. She used her staff to jump over them, landing behind them, striking one in the back. It teleported away as she attacked the other. It blocked with its sword, sliding backwards, then sliding forwards again. They had greater movement speed over the water. 

But this dimension, broken as it was, was her home. They were interlopers. They'd never understand what lay in the depths of the crimson water. She blocked the sword, then stretched out her right hand. Up until now, she had been using her left. As the cloak fell off her right hand, she plunged the scaled hand into the Shadow's chest. It seemed surprised when it didn't teleport away, and she pulled out its still beating heart. The Shadow dispersed. The second one watched in silence. 

Did they feel anger or emotions? Probably not. She, however, did. And she didn't like killing. She bit into the shadowy heart, black ichor flowing down her chin as she devoured it. She felt dark strength flow through her veins, which burned under evil fire. 

But she'd made herself stronger. She rushed across the crimson lake, water spraying up beneath her feet as she struck the Shadow with her staff. It blocked with its sword. They never seemed to move to positions--they were just suddenly in a different position. She struck a few more times with her staff, it blocking each time, then it attacked. She threw her staff into the air, catching its arm with her left hand. With her right hand, she punched through its head, her hand holding its heart on the other side. 

Once the heart was removed, the Shadow dispersed. That was why they constantly moved them. 

Ruby caught the staff in her left hand, then began walking back towards the shore. Deep beneath the surface of the water she felt the power stir as she consumed the other heart. 

She had been too weak, one time. Then she'd found the lake--full of the blood of an ancient demon. According to legend, it had been mortally wounded, then sat in a cave, bleeding out for seven days and seven nights. 

She grew stronger and faster with every heart she consumed. But then again, that was creepy. She shook the ichor off her scaled hand, then wrapped it in her cloak again. Then, she pulled out a napkin and wiped off her mouth. Pulling out a phone, she dialed a familiar number. 

"Crimson Hunter to Ravenwing HQ," she said. "Two Laughing Shadows dead and gone."

"Roger that," came the reply. "There are still a number of them lurking around those dimensions. They want to conquer this new section of the multiverse."

"Heh." Ruby looked out over the lake. "Let's find out if they want it enough to die for it."


End file.
